Mediacorp readies bilingual toon

Mediacorp is claiming a first in Singapore by launching what it says is the territory’s first bilingual TV series for preschoolers next month.

Junction Tree is a 26-episode series featuring three different versions: English-Chinese, English-Malay and English Tamil. Each version will have its very own bilingual host.

It will make its debut on terrestrial broadcaster Mediacorp’s Okto channel on February 27.

Set in a magical tree house, Junction Tree focuses on relatable experiences such as the first day of school. Unique to Singapore, the characters include Kucinta the cat-puppet and Moomba the cub lion. The series also features 27 originally composed songs by Riduan Yusoff.

All three versions will air on Okto and are Mediacorp productions. Repeat telecasts will be shown on Channel 5, Channel 8, Vasantham and Suria.

Junction Tree is funded by the Lee Kuan Yew Fund and the Bilingualism and Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA).

The series comes after two years of pilot testing, research and development with a panel of mother tongue experts, parents, preschoolers and educators.